The Problem

When it comes to making a car perform, just having faith that your shop knows what they are doing is not adequate, you HAVE to be skeptical if not completely faithless of their abilities. I’ve written this article to let you know WHY “Knowing your Guru” is vital. Racers love to tout their opinion, you’ll hear from various sources “this part is the best” or “that part is junk” from people that have never even seen, much less driven, or worked on or with the component in question. The truth of the matter is no part is right for every driver, and every application, and this is what many “tuners” refuse to acknowledge. So I’m here to explain to you why I’m the person you want to call first, and I’m the person you want to TRUST for your suspension, brake and tire advice. I want you to know how, why, and when spending a little extra up front will return you dividends in the long run as well as how, why and when there is no performance benefit to spending the extra money.

Who are you?

I am Jeff Lloyd, owner and operator of 1st Place Engineering.  First off I’ve been successful in several different forms of Mortorsport, From my first drag race sneaking out in my Mothers Trans-Am before I had my driver's license, to years of autocross and TRD rallying, to nationally recognized events like One Lap Of America, and 24 hours of LeMons. I’ve been a successful event organizer, driver, and car builder for over 17 years. But I’ve also failed at times, ALWAYS learning from my mistakes. A wise man once told me “Success comes from experience, and experience comes from failure”

You may say, “Yes, but Jeff, how does building race cars and winning Autocross, Time Trial, Rally events, and Drag Races qualify you to work on MY car.” Let me explain to you why I feel the 1st Place way, is the right way. For one I work harder than anyone at research, and I work harder than ANYONE on making sure you’ll be happy with the final outcome, regardless if your goals are a sporty street car, an all out track monster, OR simply to stay within a strict budget. I never recommend a part or modification without first doing several hours of research, testing, and comparing that item to other options available, of comparable performance, and/or price.

The Difference

Many racing shops, by nature, are not trustworthy; they don’t make money by sharing all their information and knowledge with the world. They contribute nothing to the racing community, except perhaps helping their big budget customers have faster, if not exactly “legal” racecars. Now, I know the tricks, I used to be one of those guys; I would build class-dominating cars, always stretching the extremes of any given rule set. I have been instrumental in developing rules for different clubs and event styles, and have even had rules written to prevent me from using “tricks” I developed to give my cars an advantage, but this behavior does end up hurting regular drivers in the long run.

I founded 1st Place Engineering with one goal, to bring that level of service and preparation to the masses. To give everyday Joe Driver a chance at winning. Sure, I don’t have a $10,000 laser alignment rack, I don’t have 10 lifts or a highly polished floor, and I don’t even have a showroom! But, even the best tools, without insight are a totally wasted investments. My location is simple and cheap, since that beautiful showroom has to come from somewhere... and it’s built into the price of what you buy. I have chosen my location because it’s inexpensive, and I can pass on my savings to my customers.

Motivation

Don’t get me wrong, this place, 1st Place, is my salvation, I’ve spent the past several years out of the car world, I was working for a large financial firm, Working 80+ hour weeks.  Sure the money was good, but I was tired, miserable, and would sometimes even drink myself to sleep. I was on the path to a wooden box, and quickly. When I saw the chance to get out, I did. But what to do? I wanted to get back into building cars, but I did not want to return to flocks of screaming customers calling me every 5 min because their SR20DET swap into their 81 Corolla was taking more then a week to complete. Then it came to me. As one of my heroes Colin Chapman is famous for saying, “Simplify and add lightness”. I can apply that lesson to a business model except modified, to “Simplify and Enlighten”.  That would be the goal. To not only provide the best racing Parts, Service, and Fabrication, at a good price. But to help educate the customers on how, and why things are done. To not just sell them a big brake kit but also find out what they are doing with it and make sure they get the correct brake pad compound, and providing them with all the engineering data so they can make proper, correct, future decisions to meet their specific goals. Taking the mystery out of the equation.

Requirements

If you want the 1st Place way to work for you, if you want ME to work for you, there are a few things you have to accept:

First, you have to commit yourself to having an open mind. Sometimes I’ll recommend things not popular in your circle of friends or on your favorite car forum.  This might seem counter-intuitive at first but there is always a reason behind it. Remember you’ll never have an advantage over your fellow competitors with X Brand shocks, if you also buy X Brand shocks. But, when I recommend another option, rest assured that I will explain why.

Second, you have to accept the fact I may turn you away. I’m sorry, but I can’t help everyone.  To do the research necessary for each customer is time consuming. I don’t have time to worry about wings or body kits; I’ll never be rude, but if it’s something I do not specialize in I will not be able to help you.

Third, FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION. If a fancy chrome wheel is heavier then it’s painted counterpart, or even your existing wheels, I can’t sell it to you in good faith. Likewise I will not offer for sale, items that have no performance value.  That's just not why I'm here.

Thanks for your time. Feel free to call 813-333-1100 with questions or to book an appointment.